DOHA: After the teams were drawn in the same World Cup group on Friday, France coach Didier Deschamps said the defending champions have “a lot of respect” for Denmark.

“You have to have a lot of respect,” said Deschamps. “They are the 11th-ranked FIFA team, semi-finalists at the Euros and if they are ahead of Germany and the Netherlands, it proves the quality of this team.”

France and Denmark will be familiar opponents, as they will face each other in the Nations League in June and September, just before the World Cup begins in November.

“I don’t know if it’s ideal,” said Deschamps. “They too will have the advantage of knowing us even better, even if these two meetings, one in June, one in September in the Nations League, are not the same thing.”

When the two teams met at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea, Denmark upset the defending champions 2-0, resulting in an embarrassing first-round exit for France.

They also met in the 2018 tournament in Moscow, where they played to a dull 0-0 tie.

Kasper Hjulmand, Denmark’s coach, has cautioned France to expect a tough match against a Danish team that would be “ready to fight.”

“We already have two matches in Nations League against them so it will be three times in five months,” said Hjulmand.

“France are one of the big favourites, with so much talent, and they are the defending champions. So they are clearly one of the toughest opponents.

“We are preparing for the teams we are going to face. But I advise you (France) to also prepare because we have a very good team and we will be ready to fight.”

Denmark’s finest World Cup performance was in 1998, when they advanced to the quarter-finals before losing 3-2 to Brazil.

Out of a group that contains Tunisia, Peru, Australia, or the United Arab Emirates, captain Simon Kjaer claimed his team was sure of making the last 16 in Qatar.

“It’s great to face France. A strong opponent that we drew 0-0 in the last World Cup and who we will face twice before the World Cup in the Nations League,” Kjaer said.

“Tunisia is a rare opponent for us, but it’s always interesting to face teams from other parts of the world at a World Cup, and then there is an as yet unknown opponent.

“We dream of winning trophies with this team and I think we can now say that we are going to advance from this pool.”

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